The Mercedes-AMG C63 combines the performance of a supercar with the space of a family saloon. What's not to like?
Driving straight out of its own roiling tyre smoke comes the latest
Mercedes-AMG
getaway car, the C63. This four-door Neanderthal can trace its
antecedents all the way back to the 1990 Porsche-built 500E,
with its 5.0-litre V8 crammed like a schoolroom furnace under the
bonnet, and the diesel model’s wing vents added to try to cool the flames.
Add in AMG’s original “Red Pig”, the 300 SEL 6.8 saloon, which won its class in the 1971 24 Hours of Spa and maybe the AMG Hammer (the clue’s in the name), a 1986 360bhp, 5.6-litre E-class, and you can see that big, monster-powerful saloons are home territory for this tuning firm from Affalterbach in Germany.
Up to now the C63 has been powered by the 6.2-litre V8 engine from the SLS supercar. Naturally aspirated, this hand-built unit was a lovely thing, but its dipsomaniac part-throttle operation meant it was a liability for a company trying to meet stringent EU consumption requirements, and a change had to come.
That gave Mercedes-AMG something of a dilemma since the C63 was also one of its best cars and, with more than 40,000 sold over the years, a bestseller. Dilution wasn’t really an option. So it has gone down a well-trodden path by adapting a production Mercedes block with stronger internals and a couple of turbos sitting in the V.
Giving 513bhp and 516lb ft in top-of-the-range S form, the four-cam, 4.0-litre engine cremates its rear tyres via a seven-speed automatic gearbox and limited-slip differential. Electronically limited to 155mph, it will accelerate from 0-62mph in 4.0sec and deliver about 35mpg; supercar fast and executive-car economical.
Add in AMG’s original “Red Pig”, the 300 SEL 6.8 saloon, which won its class in the 1971 24 Hours of Spa and maybe the AMG Hammer (the clue’s in the name), a 1986 360bhp, 5.6-litre E-class, and you can see that big, monster-powerful saloons are home territory for this tuning firm from Affalterbach in Germany.
Up to now the C63 has been powered by the 6.2-litre V8 engine from the SLS supercar. Naturally aspirated, this hand-built unit was a lovely thing, but its dipsomaniac part-throttle operation meant it was a liability for a company trying to meet stringent EU consumption requirements, and a change had to come.
That gave Mercedes-AMG something of a dilemma since the C63 was also one of its best cars and, with more than 40,000 sold over the years, a bestseller. Dilution wasn’t really an option. So it has gone down a well-trodden path by adapting a production Mercedes block with stronger internals and a couple of turbos sitting in the V.
Giving 513bhp and 516lb ft in top-of-the-range S form, the four-cam, 4.0-litre engine cremates its rear tyres via a seven-speed automatic gearbox and limited-slip differential. Electronically limited to 155mph, it will accelerate from 0-62mph in 4.0sec and deliver about 35mpg; supercar fast and executive-car economical.
Moving from the standard C63 to this S model adds another £6,750,
which includes £600-worth of 19in wheels and tyres, £1,400-worth of
performance seats, larger brake discs with red calipers, an active
electronic limited-slip differential, another 34bhp and 37lb ft and
marginally better acceleration, though you’d hardly notice. Both
normal and S models are also available in estate bodystyle for an
additional £1,200.
Standard specification is comprehensive, although popular options include: the £2,595 premium package including Nappa leather upholstery, hands-free unlocking, a Burmester stereo, sunroof and LED headlamps; £4,285 ceramic brakes; £1,000 adjustable volume exhaust; and a £825 head-up display. And don’t forget metallic paint at £645.
What the C63’s hard-as-nails customers don’t traditionally go for is the £1,495 driver assistance package of blind-spot assistance, Distronic Plus smart cruise control, lane-keeping assist and Pre-Safe accident preparation system.
There’s not much to denote the AMG rework on the exterior, just discreet badging, a splitter at the front and bigger air vents. Choose the black wheels and splitter and try to delete the crumby tin S badge on the boot. The attitude alone will tell people this is the tough-guy C-class.
Inside, the sports seats give the game away, though thankfully the traditional Mercedes steering column gear change is retained, unlike in other AMGs.
Accommodation is C-class standard, which means it’s a bit cramped in the back, but the front seats are roomy with lots of storage space and a modernist, but classy, instrument layout.
The chassis gets the biggest rework, with rebushed suspension, tuned springs, anti-roll bars and variable valving for the bespoke dampers. At the front there’s new AMG wishbone suspension with forged aluminium uprights, which replaces its predecessor’s MacPherson-strut front.
“The stronger upright and lower ball joints control camber and castor more accurately,” says Raphael Winter, AMG’s chassis development engineer. “They also improve feedback, which is very important to us, particularly how the driver feels the available friction.”
You need to know about friction in this 1.7-tonne projectile, even from the get go, where it will spin its wide rear Michelins on anything less grippy than sandpaper. The driver gets to dial in the damper settings, steering weight, gearbox settings, throttle aggression and how hard the traction control sweats to keep you in line. Switch it all off and you must be a serious person indeed.
The engine gurgles and grumbles at idle, popping and banging on the over run and sounding like a squadron of torpedo boats on a raid. You can choose to make it quieter or noisier, but its almost-physical presence never quite goes away.
Push the throttle and the scenery is tugged backward past the windscreen. Time speeds up and passengers are pressed hard into their seats. What’s so extraordinary is the way the charge doesn’t let up. All the way to the 155mph top speed, the nose surges forward like a racehorse going for the post. There were times when I wanted to check if Sugar Pie DeSanto hadn’t dropped a bit of Go Go Power into the tank.
Standard specification is comprehensive, although popular options include: the £2,595 premium package including Nappa leather upholstery, hands-free unlocking, a Burmester stereo, sunroof and LED headlamps; £4,285 ceramic brakes; £1,000 adjustable volume exhaust; and a £825 head-up display. And don’t forget metallic paint at £645.
What the C63’s hard-as-nails customers don’t traditionally go for is the £1,495 driver assistance package of blind-spot assistance, Distronic Plus smart cruise control, lane-keeping assist and Pre-Safe accident preparation system.
There’s not much to denote the AMG rework on the exterior, just discreet badging, a splitter at the front and bigger air vents. Choose the black wheels and splitter and try to delete the crumby tin S badge on the boot. The attitude alone will tell people this is the tough-guy C-class.
Inside, the sports seats give the game away, though thankfully the traditional Mercedes steering column gear change is retained, unlike in other AMGs.
Accommodation is C-class standard, which means it’s a bit cramped in the back, but the front seats are roomy with lots of storage space and a modernist, but classy, instrument layout.
The chassis gets the biggest rework, with rebushed suspension, tuned springs, anti-roll bars and variable valving for the bespoke dampers. At the front there’s new AMG wishbone suspension with forged aluminium uprights, which replaces its predecessor’s MacPherson-strut front.
“The stronger upright and lower ball joints control camber and castor more accurately,” says Raphael Winter, AMG’s chassis development engineer. “They also improve feedback, which is very important to us, particularly how the driver feels the available friction.”
You need to know about friction in this 1.7-tonne projectile, even from the get go, where it will spin its wide rear Michelins on anything less grippy than sandpaper. The driver gets to dial in the damper settings, steering weight, gearbox settings, throttle aggression and how hard the traction control sweats to keep you in line. Switch it all off and you must be a serious person indeed.
The engine gurgles and grumbles at idle, popping and banging on the over run and sounding like a squadron of torpedo boats on a raid. You can choose to make it quieter or noisier, but its almost-physical presence never quite goes away.
Push the throttle and the scenery is tugged backward past the windscreen. Time speeds up and passengers are pressed hard into their seats. What’s so extraordinary is the way the charge doesn’t let up. All the way to the 155mph top speed, the nose surges forward like a racehorse going for the post. There were times when I wanted to check if Sugar Pie DeSanto hadn’t dropped a bit of Go Go Power into the tank.
